Frozen Frontier Prequel: A Grimy Heart
Recap Year: 1495 Season: Summer Marri (around age 15) is now known as Grimes in the underworld. It is a hot summer day in the small settlement of Rockslide to the to the south-west of Wikkthronrarenta, the Capital City of Drekis. Grimes is still pretending to be a chimney sweep like his father Dichard, but secretly works for the crime syndicate "The Family" as a "2nd Storey Man". Dichard is much healthier now that he had a good supply of medicine, now imported from Akuba. Grimes and Dichard head into Wikkthronrarenta in the heat. They spit up once inside the city and do their routes. Grimes meets with an equal in the crime family, "Cousin" Alan, who tells him that 'Grandpa' wants to see him, a elder in the crime syndicate. Alan takes Grimes to the nice part of town and into a wine cellar. Alan waits outside as Grimes goes down. The is a muscular foreign man at the bottom of the stairs. He escorts Grimes though the wine cellar. Grimes arrives at a card table. At the table are 2 people, an gentleman, "Grandpa", in his 70s and a lady, "Auntie Esmeralda", in her 40s. Esmeralda motions Grimes to takes the empty seat. The two people seem only slightly foreign, Esmeralda appears to have some elven ancestry and the man has a slightly foreign complexion. Auntie Esmeralda explains the assignment. A tour guide, Janet, who hikes with tourists up mountain Wikk Lamdo has made a fatal error of some kind, and Grimes is asked to make sure the error is indeed fatal. Auntie Esmeralda implies that Dichard's medicine will stop if Grimes doesn't do this mission. Grimes agrees. Grimes returns to Alan outside. The two head to the middle of town, then into a weapon-smiths shop. Esmeralda had told Alan to take Grimes to get a weapon. Grimes chooses a long bronze dagger. Grimes and Alan head to the Lamdoon River and test the dagger on watermelons, cantaloupes and apples. In the evening Grimes meets up with Dichard and the two head back to Landslide. That evening Dichard falls asleep early, Grimes heads out. Grimes south to to investigate the hiking tours. The site of the hiking tours are a series of shacks. There are several tents set up and camp fires about. Grimes walks around and investigates. Grimes finds a pair of kids talking about Janet. Grimes then memorises the people and their family crest before heading home. The next morning Grimes wakes up early in the morning, pretends to go to work, then returns back to the tourists and from a distance sees various camps breaking down, groups are heading up the mountain. Grimes heads on ahead taking the more unused trail to get ahead. Half an hour later he spots the pair of kids with their parents and the guide, Janet. Janet has climbing boots, a satchel and 2 water skins, yet is wearing an impractical purple dress and pear earings. She has brown hair that goes down to her shoulders. A longer face with a rounded jaw with a wonderful smile and cheery eyes. She looks to be around 19 years old. The group stops every 200 feet they stop and Janet explains something touristy to the group. Grimes secretly follows from a distance for several hours at this slow pace. At the end of the day the group arrives at the base camp, which Grimes could have reached in only 2 hours from home. There are 2 dozen hikers at the base camp. Grimes pretends to be a member of staff and approach the hiker's camp fire. Some time later Grimes heads over to the staff camp fire that is more lively. There are six primary guides and six secondary guides. Janet is one of the primary guides. Grimes overhears Janet and another person talking about illegal freelancers also taking groups up the mountain from outside their government organisation. Tomorrow Janet plans to climb up with a group further up the mountain. The next day the heat wave has ended, or it is just being up the mountain. Janet is in full hiking gear today, taking a group of Mistryans up. Grimes tries to climb on ahead but gets stuck on the first stage and slips back. Janet talks to Grimes, saying that it is dangerous to head up the mountain without a guide, and kindly offers Grimes to come along with her group in exchange for drinks at a pub later. Grimes shamefully accepts. Grimes travels up with the group, trying to find an opportunity to push Janet off the cliff or cause an avalanche. At noon the group stops at an overlook that can see as far to the North-West to the South West, with the shallow sea, the southern ocean and Great Horn visible. Janet slips away from the party to relive herself and Grimes moves to attack she is done but alone still. Grimes however hesitates and doesn't do the deed. Soon everyone starts to head down the mountain back down to the base camp without incident. The next day Janet is back in her purple dress. Grimes follows the group down to the camp at the base of the mountain. Janet farewells the group then goes around the camp doing some work. Grimes makes sure to meet up with Janet after she leaves work to head home. Grimes finally is absolutely certain that Janet has no idea of thieves cant. Janet flirts with Grimes, and thinks Grimes is being shy and awkward. After a long walk alone, they arrive at a village outside the Footmire Swamp. It is mid-afternoon. Indead of the pub, she takes Grimes to the family home, and shows her older brother's old tree fort out the back. The two enter the fort. The two chat into the evening. The two then head off to the pub, but as Janet goes to climb down, Grimes tries to make her fall, but fails. The two arrives at the pub and Grimes loses any opportunity to murder her discreetly. Grimes returns to find his father Dichard understandably upset by his absence. The next morning Grimes and Dichard go to work to chimney sweep in the city. Alan questions Grimes, but Grimes admits he hasn't done the job yet. That night Grimes and Dichard return home as usual. The next day Dichard is very sick and takes the day off, and asks Grimes to do his chimney route as well. Grimes for the first time in a long time actually cleans some chimneys that day. That night when Grimes returns home to find Dichard is dead in bed. Overnight Dichard is buried and put to rest by the folks of Landslide. It is dawn and Grimes heads to the mountain Wikk Lamdo towards the pilgrims trail. He spends some days just climbing. Some days later Grimes heads back into Wikkthronrarenta. When he enters the city "Cousin" Alan comes up to Grimes. Alan explains he took care of the Janet job, and is surprised that Grimes had so much trouble with it. Grimes sucker punches Alan and then runs off. Grimes runs to Footmire. The priest of Marthy there confirms that Janet was murdered a few days ago and is now buried in the cemetery. Grimes cries over the grave. He buries the long dagger he was given in the soil above the grave. The "Family" never ask Grimes to so killing mission ever again. He only does robbery jobs. Category:Frozen Frontier Episodes